Are Your Middle Mangers a Competitive Advantage?

Send this Article to a Friend!

Middle managers can be your competitive advantage. . .
if you know how to leverage their talent and role in the organization.

Execution is everything!
Or so concluded a 1999 Fortune Magazine cover story on why executives fail.  Fortune estimated that in the majority of cases—up to 70 percent based on their research—CEO failures were not due to a “lack of smarts, vision or strategy.”  Rather, the CEO failures they studied were attributed to one simple shortcoming they labeled as bad execution, meaning “not getting things done, being indecisive, and not delivering on commitments.”  And Fortune’s point was made by looking at the tenure of people like John Akers, CEO of IBM (1985-93), Bob Allen, CEO of AT&T (1988-97), and Kay Whitmore, CEO of Kodak (1990-93), among almost 40 other notables.

The best strategy in the world doesn’t create a competitive advantage for an organization unless it is translated and implemented effectively.  Identifying the need to innovate in products or services, drive out costs, or capture new markets is, at least sometimes, relatively easy.  Figuring out how to implement the strategy and then actually making it happen is never easy.

The Fortune article made a compelling point: the ability to deliver results is becoming the yardstick by which executive effectiveness is judged.  In this article, we offer our perspective on how organizations (and their executives) can help themselves measure up: make sure your middle mangers are experts at strategic implementation and execution.  Middle managers are translators.  They translate strategy into the right actions that get the right results.  The organizations that know how to identify and use their middle managers most effectively can create a sustainable competitive advantage.  Few might disagree with this, but few organizations seem to really understand how to use the competitive tool they have in their middle management ranks.

Managers are stuck between a “rock” and a “hard place”
Actually, “hidden” might be a more accurate descriptor.  The “rock” is the employee who needs to implement the tactics that make the strategy come alive.  The “hard place” is the executive team who determines the strategies that keep the organization ahead of its competitors.  A recent study reported in the Harvard Business Review concluded that managers in the middle made all the difference during times of change, but their contributions go largely unnoticed by senior executives (see In Praise of Middle Managers, September, 2001).

Seeing middle managers as “translators”
Middle managers can drive the speed with which new strategies are implemented, the quality of the strategy, and the results that are achieved.  As the Harvard study reports, middle managers are close to the day-to day operations.  They understand the real problems and the real opportunities.  They have the best and widest networks, know who to influence and how, and have the time (and generally the responsibility) to explain things to the front lines.  They are the critical linkage between concepts and implementation and are the ones who calm the fears employees have about change, uncertainty, and doing things differently.  During times of radical change, they provide the continuity an organization needs to get “from here to there.”

Creating a competitive advantage with middle managers
So, you have a company-wide commitment to a new strategy.  And, you understand who in the organization will be the most influential to your success.   Now, the question is, “what do you do to make middle managers a strategic advantage?”  Our answer is identify them, involve them, listen to them, and support them.

Identifying effective middle managers
How can you identify your effective middle managers? Who are those managers and leaders who can successfully implement the strategy you have determined?  The characteristics of effective middle managers that can drive change are:

• They tend to be early volunteers in change efforts.
• They know how to effectively redirect efforts when they have gone off track.
• They challenge the status quo and ask tough questions—in appropriate ways.
• They demonstrate versatility and flexibility with their style and skills.
• They know how to navigate through the complexity of organizations.
• They have a high level of emotional intelligence.  That is, they are tuned in to the emotional needs and feelings of the people they manage.
• They can deal well with ambiguity.  They view ambiguous situations as being full of opportunities rather than problems.
• They are known as good coaches and developers of others.
• They are self-aware individuals who understand their own strengths and weaknesses, and how to leverage their strengths for the organization.

Involve middle managers in meaningful ways
There are some very practical steps senior managers can take to make sure key middle managers are involved in meaningful, motivating ways:

• Involve them in creating a new vision for their department or work group.
• Appoint them to serve on teams or committees formed to affect change.
• Keep them constantly and well-informed about the change plan.  Establish regular communication channels and habits.  Make sure they don’t get surprised by being the last to hear about new initiatives.
• Involve them in change planning meetings, and expect them to decide how change would happen in their unit

Find ways to listen to middle managers
For many, “involvement” probably means having an opportunity to contribute to or shape the discussion or plan.  It is more than just being kept informed.  Organizations and executives need to invite input and demonstrate they have listened:

• Establish feedback systems so middle managers can advise executives about the strategy and progress on implementation. 
• Maintain a constant flow of communication from the middle managers to the senior executives so corrections and revisions can be made to the strategy.
• Publicize the ideas and recommendations that middle managers make so the organization learns that managers’ input is being accepted and integrated into change plans.

Provide the right kind of support for middle managers
Good middle managers have shown that they can do more with less, but there probably are limits to what they can accomplish with out resources and the right kind of support:

• Provide resources for experiments. Make sure managers have a budget, time, and personnel to implement pilot projects.
• Provide expertise, including consultants, if executives don’t have time or knowledge to be helpful.
• Make time for managers, especially in one-on-one meetings, to be a sounding board or devil’s advocate for their observations, recommendations, and new ideas.
• Be an advocate for their ideas and recommendations with other executives and decision-makers.

The role of senior managers: developing middle managers to be strategic implementers
Senior managers need to focus on developing the effectiveness of their middle managers.  They should focus on building commitment to the strategy; reinforcing the translation of the strategy into tangible action steps; maintaining a clarity of purpose by repeating the strategy again and again; defining outcomes for the organization; endorsing the organizational metrics; allocating the appropriate resources; monitoring progress; and rewarding and recognizing results. 

Here is a short set of questions to ask whether you are doing your part to turn your managers into a competitive advantage for your organization:

1. Can I identify the most effective middle managers in my organization?  How many are there?  Are there enough that I would have confidence that they could successfully lead a change initiative?
2. Would my managers tell me they feel genuinely involved in setting or shaping the direction of our organization?  Did they have input into our vision and strategy?
3. How regularly do I ask their advice?  Do others know we have implemented some of their good ideas?
4. Would our managers say they get the support they need, or do I hear that decision-makers are too inaccessible or that their budgets are too strained to do anything differently?

If you are interested in exploring how to turn your managers in to a stronger competitive advantage for your organization, contact Peter at pgermann@mdaconsultinggroup.com or 612-259-4241.

If you want to read more. . .
Charan, R., and Colvin, G. (June 21, 1999). Why CEOs Fail. Fortune Magazine. 69-78.
Huy, Q. N., (Sept., 2001). In Praise of Middle Managers.  Harvard Business Review.73-79.